Inca Trail / Camino Inka Day 4: Arriving at Machu Picchu

The wake up call came at 3:30 AM. As on other days we were greeted with a cup of hot coca tea and a washcloth and warm water to do a quick freshening-up. We hurried to pack and eat, and our group walked to the queue just below our camp to wait until they opened the rest of the trail at 5:30 AM. We brushed our teeth while in line, using what was left of our boiled & cheesecloth-strained water that tasted like metal. We had a nice conversation with George and Carol for an hour before they opened the trail, and we were on our way!

I was determined to keep up with the group and went faster than any other day on the trail despite my ankle. 

It didn't work. I thought this last day was going to be easier and shorter, but it felt like forever. The goal was to get to the Sun Gate by sunrise. That didn't happen either, but, we did eventually get there, and Machu Picchu was beautiful.

I remember first coming over that hill and everyone else in the group was already there, but it was like they all faded away and there I was, just me, looking out at Machu Picchu.

It was still almost an hour-long trek from the Sun Gate to the site, and along the way we passed regular tourists who had came by train & bus walking the opposite direction from us to the Sun Gate. I felt superior. I had walked 26+ miles for this, hadn't showered in 4 days -- I EARNED THIS.

One of the ladies that passed us told us the Boston Marathon bombers had been caught, one killed. The Boston Marathon had been bombed the day before we left for the trail. We had been away from all electricity & communications while we were out there on the trail.

We made our way down to Machu Picchu and had to exit so we could officially enter the ruins. There was a snack bar area that was very commercialized, with pop music blaring. I couldn't help but wonder what the Inkas would think of all this. 

After resting there about a half hour and having a refreshing, clean bottle of water, we went to officially enter. There was a line, and once we were in, Flavio led us around and did a short tour. The end of our time together as a group was getting close and I think everyone felt it. It's crazy how four days in the middle of nowhere, doing the most physically difficult work you've ever done, can bond you all in a way you've never experienced before and maybe never will again.

The last part of the tour took place at this area where we sat on large stones in a circle. The sun was perfect, temperature perfect, and it even seemed a little quieter there. 

After that, the group split up. Some went to climb Hyuana Picchu (not us, haha) and others went different directions to explore the ruins on their own. Adam and I headed to the residential areas. Secretly I was hoping for a spiritual revelation of some kind, but nothing came.

Originally, I had wanted to spend one or two whole days at Machu Picchu, but we were so tired from the trek (plus, my ankle was DONE with all the stairs) so we took the bus down to Aguas Calientes at 12:30 to find the place where our group was going to meet for lunch, Apu Salkantay. The bus went around 13 switchbacks down the mountain and took just under 30 minutes. At the bottom, we saw a hotel that looked really nice, and I made myself remember the name for later (Sumaq). We had no reservations for the rest of our time in Peru.😲

We were the first ones at lunch (oh the irony, having been the last ones into camp every day). We had run into some French Canadians who we asked for directions, otherwise we may have never found it. Adam ordered a huge beer. I had a chicken sandwich with lettuce (risky I know, but the place looked nice). Adam had some kind of vegetarian sandwich. Others started arriving, and this truly marked the end. We were all dirty and tired, except for the guides who seemed to have found a place to shower after the tour.

We enjoyed lunch and had lots of conversation, and then most of them had to hurry to the train station. Kelly, Brian, me and Adam were the only ones that opted for a night in Aguas Calientes. By then, I had booked a night at the Sumaq for $328 USD using my phone and the restaurant wifi. It's a 5 star hotel, includes a gourmet dinner and breakfast, and after this journey it's just money.

I was in a lot of pain, in my legs obviously, but also my arms from relying so much on the walking sticks since twisting my ankle. The remaining four of us chatted and took our time, and then said goodbye.

Adam and I headed for the Sumaq with excitement. They greeted us warmly with fruit juice and quickly checked us in. Our room was beautiful, with a balcony with a view of the Urubamba River. It was a great place to relax. It even had a bathtub. Such a start contrast to our accommodations the previous 3 nights on the trail. I showered twice, and we went to the bar where they were offering free pisco sours. I tried it but didn't think I needed alcohol while my body was trying to recover, so Adam gladly had his and mine. We made dinner reservations for 7:00, so we relaxed in the bar area until then. 

Dinner was elegantly served in three or four courses. I tried to order things that I recognized, but when my appetizer came I had no idea what it was. I picked at it and stopped. I really needed some nourishment since I hardly ate on the trail. I would later learn that I lost 15 pounds over the course of our 15 days in Peru. My main course turned out to be delicious and I ate as much as I could. It was spaghetti noodles with vegetables and an oil-basil sauce. Dessert was even better. It was seriously the best chocolate ice cream I've ever had in my LIFE.

After that we stayed up for a while relaxing and reflecting on all that we had done. I still can't believe it made it all the way to the end of the trail.

The Inka Trail - Camino Inka

We woke up to our alarm at 3:00 AM and threw ourselves and all our belongings together and headed to the front desk to check out. Check out was slow, and my panic kicked in once again. We ran to the Recocijo Square where the Llama Path bus was waiting, and were the last ones to board.

This was the first of many times that we would be late or last over the next four days.

We stopped in Ollantaytambo and ate breakfast at the place that we ate at every day during our time there, Huatacuy. I was able to grab the Wifi signal from Hostal Iskay for one last check in with the world before our journey! (I also took the opportunity to do a foursquare check-in to the Inka Trail, assuring my friends we were really doing this.)

I had a positive attitude and felt excited as we traveled down dirt roads parallel to the railroad and river, and finally arrived at KM 82.

Soon we were on our way, over the Urubamba and then up, up, down down, up, up, and up! This is what they call "Inka flat."

Day 1 was hard. Much harder than I expected. I pressed forward as well as I could, but by mid-day I was having trouble keeping up and had fallen to the back of the group. The rain began about that time, and with temps dropping and my raincoat failing, I was feeling pretty miserable by the time I arrived at camp. I had a moment when I got in the tent which involved lots of shivering, and some crying, along with regret. I had overestimated my strength and abilities. The Inka Trail was winning.

That night it was really cold, so I was thankful for the excellent cocoon-style sleeping bags that were provided. Even so, I arose the next morning after alternating between shivering, tossing, and dozing in 10 minute increments.

Day 2 was very hard. This is the day we ascended and descended the two highest passes on the trail: Dead Woman's Pass (Warmi Wanusca) and Runkuraqay Pass, at almost 14,000 ft and 13,000 ft, respectively.

At the highest point on the trail, 13,772 feet above sea level.

It's harder work going up the stairs, but more painful going down. So when I was going up, I looked forward to going down, and vice versa. Every time I would think I had gotten to the top of a section of stairs, the trail would go around a corner and there would be more stairs. Climbing rocky stairs with such a lack of oxygen takes more mental acuity than I could have prepared for. It was a constant battle inside myself to continue to put one foot in front of the other. I quit many times. But we were long past the point at which going back is shorter than pressing on, and so, I continued on. I made it into camp dead last, and too tired and nauseous from altitude sickness to go to dinner.

Day 3 (today) was my best day on the trail. I still was unable to eat breakfast, and I think my fellow trekkers were worried. They encouraged me to eat something, even a bite, but I just couldn't. Thankfully by lunch time, my appetite had started to return.

I've been so embarrassed because I am always the last one into camp, sometimes by hours. I never imagined it would be this difficult. I mean, I feel better now that we're at a lower altitude and since I've been able to eat. My legs hurt so bad. I've been using two walking sticks practically like crutches.

The third day on the trail is beautiful, though. Here are some photos. (In case you were wondering, Adam is doing fine.)

We had a closing ceremony tonight where we all got introduced to each porter and heard their age, and then introduced ourselves as well. Our group consists of Carol and George (a mother & son from Massachusetts), Kelly (from the UK), Callum (from Scotland), Brian (from Melbourne, Australia), Dan & Emily (from New York), Peter and Erin (from Australia), and me & Adam (from Madison, Wisconsin). Our guides are Flavio and Fabriccio, and our chef is Sebastian.

I was finally able to eat my first real dinner since being on the trail. We discussed a way to share photos with each other, and gave all our email addresses to George to set that up. What a great idea! Anyway, I am finally coming back to life and being sociable, and I'm glad the group got to see some of my real personality shining through.

As we were all getting ready to say goodnight, some of us were waiting to use the bathrooms (to protect the privacy of those on the involved I'll be leaving out names). These bathrooms were the worst we'd see in all of Peru. I actually changed and quarantined my pants when I got back to the tent because I was not willing to risk whatever I may have dragged in with them, getting into my things...

Anyway, I was squatting over the hole in the ground to pee. There was no trash can so everyone had thrown their used tp/wipes in a corner in a pile. The smell, was really bad. You could hear EVERYTHING. I finished up, and Adam and I were about to walk back down to camp when a young man from our group came out of the other bathroom, head hanging low, saying in his strong Scottish accent, "I feel like the worst person in the world right now." A young woman (who had been sharing a tent with him since night one due to her partner needing medical care just before beginning the trek) said, "I thought you quit that!" And me and Adam were like, "what??" The young man then said "I've been taking Imodium so I don't have to take a shite out here." And we burst into laughter! In fact, we got back to our tent and continued to laugh while we knew we should be trying to be quiet and go to sleep because we have to get up at 3:30 am to make the final 7k to Machu Picchu in the morning. 

When you're in a group and you go through something as life-changing as the Inka Trail experience together, you bond in ways that outsiders won't understand. You open up about things you wouldn't normally tell strangers. When almost all access to privacy is removed, you adjust and accept reality in a different way. For a short time (4 days in our case), you're family.

So by the end of day 3, things were much better and even though I was in terrible pain from the thousands of stairs and the sprained ankle (did I mention that?), it was a great day.

Museum Day in Cuzco

Day 8 in Peru

Since we walked like 10 miles yesterday, we decided to have a museum day today. We also have a limited time to use up our boleto touristico, and it will be expired once we return from the Inca Trail, so this seems perfect!

Museo de Quoricancha, elongated skulls

The day started with a decent breakfast at the Tierra Viva Plaza. We then walked to Quoricancha, and visited the museum (included in our boleto turisticos). This was a museum where you'd want to really take your time and read everything, so we went at a relaxed pace. It was a great museum, and contained all the information we'd need to really understand our next stop, the Quoricancha site itself!

We paid S./10 each to get in to Quoricancha. Photography was prohibited inside, but I'll do my best to explain what we saw.

Part of Quoricancha was a cathedral which has a monestary inside. The other part is what I'd call the "ruins." While we were exploring the cathedral section we found some secret doors, some of which were unlocked but I was afraid we'd get in trouble if we went in. (We did peek inside one set of doors, and there was a large sanctuary inside. It was beautiful!)

Suddenly, a group of young men came out of someplace, and walked by us and through a door that was painted to blend in completely with the wall so well that I hadn't even noticed it before this! I'm guessing these guys were studying there, learning to be priests or serve the church in some way. They said hello and smiled. I was so curious as to what they were up to, but too shy to ask (and they looked like they were on their way somewhere important). 

We actually spent most of our time in the cathedral section, but the ruins were really cool too. I just think at this point, I've seen a lot of ruins, and they all start to look the same after a while. (Never thought I'd say that!)

Afterward, we wandered around Cuzco some more and went to a few more museums. At one, the guy in the ticket office was taking a nap, and everytime someone would walk by, he'd snap his head up pretending he was awake the whole time. Just sort of an observation about the lifestyle here. At this museum, we went into an art exhibit with all these detailed, trippy paintings. The guy working in that area only spoke Spanish, and started telling us about the paintings. Turns out, he was their creator! His father was a shaman and taught him how to go into the jungle and drink this special juice that would make him hallucinate, after/during which he painted all of these. A lot of them had to do with the origins of the Earth, origins of man, and specifically the origin of horses. There were spaceships involved. It was interesting -- entertaining even. He gave us a poster which we have that shows one of his paintings. (Unfortunately, we could not fit the poster in our backpacks to take home, and I haven't been able to find his name or his work online since. If you happen to know where I can find information, please comment! I believe it was the Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, and it was mid-April 2013.)

We also saw other older paintings that were religious (Catholic) in nature. They were bizarre...like, Jesus on a cross with the Andes Mountains in the background. Or Jesus riding a llama instead of a donkey or camel. And most interestingly, a rendition of The Last Supper which included a large guinea pig for the feast!

Beautiful center squares in many buildings in Cuzco!

We went to the Llama Path office for our night-before briefing. This got me pretty nervous, but it was good to meet everyone the day before we'll be going on the trail. Our guides gave a presentation about the details of each day on the trail. I found myself looking around the room sizing everyone up, wondering where I would fit into the group -- slow, medium, or fast. Definitely not fast... But, everyone seems really nice, and we represent several countries: Australia, England, Scotland, and the United States!

After the briefing, Adam found a place to eat on Trip Advisor that was close to our hotel and was listed as #1 in Cusco, called Inkazuela. We went there late, and I was so nervous about not having time to pack for the trail that I only ate bread, and a couple of potatoes from Adam's soup. 

I don't know why I am so nervous, but when we got back to the hotel around 9:30 I went to bed and Adam packed everything up. Maybe it's because I'm about to do something I've been dreaming about for years. Maybe it's because I'm afraid I won't make it. Maybe it's because we haven't done anything with a tourist group the whole time in Peru, and the introvert in me is freaking out a bit. Maybe it's because I'm not really in a "hiking mood" like I was two days ago. 

Either way, I guess tomorrow we will see if the feelings subside!

Exploring Sacsayhuaman, Wandering the Countryside, Riding Horses

Day 7 in Peru

We had breakfast at our hotel, the Tierra Viva Plaza, and set out to find the Llama Path office to check in for our trek in two days (they require an advance check in so they can verify that you've been at altitude for at least two days before setting out on the trek). The office was hard to find, and we had to go back once to the hotel to look it up again. Then they weren't open when we finally found it, so we sat in Regocijo Plaza for 10 minutes. It's a smaller square just a block away from the larger Plaza de Armas.

Regocijo Plaza, Cuzco

When Llama Path opened, we were the first ones in. The lady that helped us kept calling us "my friends." Adam had to go all the way back to the hotel to get more US dollars to pay off our balance. That took a long time because he got lost... Finally we got out of there after more than an hour and went back to the hotel and got a taxi for the 10 minute drive to Sacsayhuaman.

But first, we stopped at McDonalds. They have one right in the Plaza de Armas square. I was in a sort of perpetual state of hunger throughout my time in Peru, and even though I don't indulge in McDonalds much at home, I needed something familiar. I ordered a medium fry and a coke. I had difficulty asking for "no ice" in Spanish, but a British guy next to me helped me out! When you're in the Cuzco McDonalds and you look outside, you're experiencing such a contrast. Inside, you're hearing loud hip-hop music, and just outside you're looking at this ancient but preserved world. McDonalds seemed out of place, but I was ever so thankful for it, as you will see in this video:

Sacsayhuaman was great! the ruins are absolutely huge and beautifully laid out.

Sacsayhuaman overlooks the city of Cuzco

They call it "granadilla." Outside, it looks like an orange, inside it's full of alien-looking seed pods.

To give you an idea of size, I'm standing near the center of this photo.

Sacsayhuaman

We didn't really have a plan for the rest of the day, which turned out well. When we were on one of the paths, we came to a lookout where we ran into some people from Atlanta. They were a father & daughter named Dale and Christie, and we must have stood there and talked with them for 45 minutes. Eventually we went our separate ways, but ran into each other again later in front of the ruins. They said they were going to walk over and try to find the Templo de la Luna, and that we were welcome to go along, so we said sure!

TMI alert: I really had to pee, so we found the bathroom nearest to Sacsayhuaman and it was your typical Cuzco bathroom -- no toilet seats, no toilet paper. I tried and tried (MIND OVER MATTER, I kept telling myself), but I could not go. I was almost in tears over it because I had no idea when we'd see another bathroom. Also, it was getting very hot out and my black hiking pants, long-sleeved hiking shirt, wool socks, etc. were getting uncomfortable. But, I wanted to be adventurous so I pushed on past all the things that were irritating me.

We started walking to the northeast, walking and walking, and it seemed like forever before we unexpectedly came to Q'enko, which was another stop on our boleto turistico, so we checked that out.

Q'enko

One of the caves at Q'enko

An altar inside a cave at Q'enko

Climbing around the ruins at Q'enko

After Q'enko, we kept walking in the same general direction (northeast), but stayed mostly along a road now. Everyone we asked said to just keep following the road and we'd soon find the Templo de la Luna. We were way out in the country by this time walking along some highway, four of us who couldn't possibly look any more like gringo tourists than we did!

After a long time, we came upon a place where there were a group of Peruvians with horses. They wanted to have us ride horses to the Templo de la Luna. I was really tired and not too comfortable with horses, so we were going to keep walking when Dale said "let's just do it, my treat." So I got on this horse and right away it wanted to do its own thing, which was mostly to eat. I really freaked out a couple of times, totally embarrassing myself. Those Peruvians were probably making fun of me so bad.

Horseback riding through the Peruvian countryside

Disembarking the horses at the Templo de la Luna

The Templo de la Luna with foreboding clouds

Inka stairs

More Inka stairs at the Templo de la Luna

We had arrived via horseback at the Templo de la Luna around 4:00 PM (~6 hours after arriving at Sacsayhuaman). I still hadn't peed and didn't even need to by this point. No idea how to explain this one. Anyway, it looked and felt like a storm was coming, and had cooled off to the point I was wearing my jacket again.

The templo was pretty cool though, and I'm glad we found it. It had two caves that we found, and lots of neat Inka stairs.

The people with the horses quickly disappeared after we arrived at the Templo, and we had no other course of action than to attempt to walk back to Cuzco. I'm guessing we'd walked well over 6 miles by this point, possibly 8 or 9.

We began walking. We came upon a village and saw a couple of people who thankfully were friendly! After that, we were finally over the mountain we were on and could see the city. From this vantage point, we realized we were much closer to the airport than we should have been if we had any chance of making it back to anywhere near the Plaza de Armas on foot.

The road we tried to follow back into Cuzco

We started walking down some curvy (but paved) road in a rough-looking part of the outskirts of Cuzco. There was a man washing his old Toyota Corolla "taxi" along the road, while what appeared to be his wife and daughter watched. We discussed amongst ourselves whether to take the risk of asking for a ride, and decided I would be the group spokesperson (as the only fluent Spanish-speaker). The man seemed friendly and said it would be just 8 soles to take us to the Plaza de Armas. We got in. There were no seatbelts. This was probably a huge risk but there were four of us and only one of him, and he was small so I really wasn't too worried.

It all worked out and we exchanged email addresses with Christie so we could share photos. We said goodbye and wished them safe travels as we got out at the Plaza, and returned to our hotel.

Using google maps, we figured we walked more than 10 miles over steep hilly terrain (great practice for the Inka trail I think!), with no food and no bathroom break for me the ENTIRE time. We got back around 5:30 PM. It was a long, but adventurous and FUN day!!!

Travelling from Ollantaytambo to Cuzco

Day 6

Woke up at 5am with severe stomach pains. Thankfully I had some cipro from my doctor, so I took it at the first sign to kill whatever I had somehow ingested. Sadly, I've narrowed it down and it was either those delicious banana pancakes from last night, or I got some water up my nose in the shower yesterday which may have also been the culprit.

I missed breakfast as I couldn't get out of bed. We had a car coming for us at 11am and I still needed to pack. Luckily, the cipro did its work and I was able to shower and pack before getting in the taxi with our new driver, Issac.

Isaac didn't speak English, and was very quiet at first. I started thinking this would be a long, boring car ride to Cusco. But, he probably thought we didn't speak Spanish, either. He finally broke the ice though, and then we had the best conversation for the 2+ hour long drive! We covered all kinds of topics from North Korea (took me a while to figure out what "notre correa" meant), the water problems in Peru, what it was like living in Urubamba his whole life, child labor, and a variety of questions he had about life in the United States.

All of this talking and listening in Spanish was really good for my Spanish skills. it was so much fun!

We did have two interesting things happen along the way to Cuzco.

First, we got stopped by the Polícia Nacional. This was unsettling for me, with all the corruption I've read about the police here. They had set up some kind of checkpoint in Urubamba, and were having random cars pull over and then checking them one at a time. They wanted to see Isaac's documents, and they scrutinized them for a while. I couldn't understand much of what they were saying. Eventually after much questioning, they let us go. I was surprised no money changed hands, as I hear this is quite common when interacting with the police in Peru.

I asked Isaac what they wanted, and he said they were just doing a document check for taxi drivers. Now I'm wondering if this might have been part of a legitimate effort to combat fake taxis that are responsible for express kidnappings and such.

Urubamba, Peru

Second, while travelling along we came upon a place where they were drag-racing cars just off the highway, and Isaac asked if we wanted to stop and watch. It was funny, and reminded me so much of Wisconsin! They were sending cars one by one down this dirt road that disappeared around a mountain, and timing each car as they went. The racing kicked up all kinds of dust, and the onlookers were having a great time! But then, the police showed up and made us leave.

Here's a video I took when we were getting in to Cusco. I apologize for the sound (wind & cobblestone....) and the shakiness of the video, but you'll see what I mean about the appearance of poverty everywhere.

We then arrived at the Tierra Viva Plaza Hotel in Cuzco. It's very nice! They offered us coca tea right away and got us checked in quickly. The altitude is a couple thousand feet higher here than in Ollantaytambo, and I can tell.

The view from one of the Tierra Viva Plaza's balconies

Our room here is much larger, has a tv, a large shower and bathroom, a small balcony, a full length mirror, desk, and wardrobe. The staff are very nice and helpful, and the presentation of everything here is nicer than we've seen anywhere else. Any reservations I had about staying in Cusco are better now. I think we will like it here!

We found an Italian place that had a high rating on trip advisor for dinner. It's called Roma Mia. I was still not sure about eating after being so sick this morning, so I just had bread. Adam had a vegeterian pasta dish and said it was great!

We just returned to our hotel room and are about to watch some movies in Spanish before calling it a night!

Pisac Ruins & Maras Salt Flats

Day 5

We got up early today to pack up and meet a driver (arranged by the Hostal Iskay staff) for our half-day trip to Pisac and the salt flats at Maras.

We got out to the street, and there was Marco backing up his car (we were pleasantly surprised that it was him again), meanwhile a local guy was herding three cows down the street.

As we made our way to Pisac (almost a 2 hour drive), I realized how quickly I've become accustomed to things here like the traffic, roads, animals everywhere, and such. I noticed lots of the usual things along the drive. One thing that stood out as unusual, was this very nice home, set back off the road further (most homes are just a few meters from the road), and surrounded by fields. There were workers in the fields, but I don't think they owned the house. They looked very poor. My assumption is that the owners of the house hired these workers, paying them very little for their labor, but making lots of profits themselves. I think maybe that's the way it is here; If you're fortunate enough to own something and employ people, you're rich. If not, you fall into the hard-working, poverty-level class.

Every house but that one was what you'd typically see: mud brick homes, with dirt floors, at least one broken window, and incomplete roofs. Here are some that I was able to photograph, though these were certainly not the worst.

I think this one actually used to be quite nice

A store along the highway

People are everywhere along the highway, clearly living their lives in these places, and I can not imagine how they can be healthy that way. Another thing that's very different here than the United States is that when you're not in a city or village, and you're just driving along the highway there are homes, little stores, and so on, all along the way. You don't go more than a quarter mile without seeing a person and/or a building of some sort.

We arrived in Pisac and made our way out to the ruins (some crazy curvy roads out there). We wanted to get through the ruins quickly because we had two other places we wanted to see. I pushed myself a bit too hard and as a result, had to stop a lot to catch my breath. I'm still not completely acclimated.

That's part of the road leading up to the Pisac Ruins, as seen from the ruins

Terraces along the path that connects the two sections of the Pisac Ruins

The Pisac Ruins are made up of two sections, connected to each other by a trail over a bunch of terraces. I think the second part was the coolest! You could see these caves carved right into the side of the mountain, where I think people lived a long time ago.

Our visit to the Pisac Ruins was also my first encounter with squat holes. I have a picture of one, but will spare you.

We were pretty much the only ones at Pisac as we walked through the whole place, but by the time we left it was starting to fill with tourist buses. On our way out, there was a man playing a Peruvian flute, and it was a nice compliment to the atmosphere.

After this, several Peruvians had set up blankets to sell their wares. We bought sun hats (that, ironically, said "Machu Picchu" on them) from a woman just outside the entrance/exit. There was a little girl, about 8 years old, selling bracelets also. She followed us all the way to the car trying to sell us these bracelets. She was very aggressive, and tried to hop INTO the car with us. She had me quite flustered, as I had never encountered this before. Because of this, I was not interested in buying. After we left though, I felt really bad. I actually could not get this little girl out of my mind. I could have just bought a couple of bracelets for my kids and that would have been neat because a girl younger than them had made them in Peru. I decided the next time I see a little girl selling bracelets, I'm just going to buy some.

Next we travelled to Salineras/Maras. This is where they have the salt flats, which are man-made. We didn't spend a lot of time there because it was like once you saw it, you saw it. Also, tourist buses were filling the place and it was getting too crowded to pass most of the trails. Oh, and talk about "exit through the gift shop..." This place had the most extensive, longest series of gift shops that you were routed through on the way in, and out, selling all KINDS of things. It was overwhelming.

"Guard rails?" Nope.

I happened to be wearing my Canada shirt, and this tourist saw me and was all excited to meet "someone else from Canada." I played along.

No soy Canadiense.

We got back to our hostal in the mid-afternoon, and decided to look for some Italian food again. This time it was a success! We found Mayupata, and I had spaghetti.

Later we went to the Hearts Cafe one last time, as this is our last night in Ollantaytambo. This time I got banana pancakes on recommendation from a foursquare tip. They tasted great!

There's my EXCITED FACE